


Moral Compass

by ashfinsawriter



Series: Civil War II [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Machine Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Not Beta Read, Not Happy, Past Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Canon, Revolutionary Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-27 01:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20751800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashfinsawriter/pseuds/ashfinsawriter
Summary: North has to face the reality of her past and the world, two years after the war began.





	Moral Compass

**Author's Note:**

> Okay okay, yes the title is a pun since this is focused on North…  
To clarify my crappy tagging abilities (on mobile), North remembers the incident before she deviated with a lot of detail. It was pretty uncomfortable for me to write tbh and doesn't go beyond some external touching (she deviates early enough), but I don't want to trigger any real victims, so the warning's there. All of her rape memories are in italics, even though it's a pain to italicize things, so if you want to read this but don't want to see the details of that just scroll past blocks of italics.
> 
> If you intend to skip it, here's a summary: North was rented and unnamed, she deviated and strangled the man that rented her, ran outside to steal some clothes, then continued north and found Jericho. Simon greeted her, asked her name, and she decided on North because going north lead her here.
> 
> Also, although I'm putting this in a series with It Will Never Be Over, you can read this on its own. I'm just grouping together all the fics in the same universe.

Markus has been gone far too long. North paces around the camp, constantly recounting their numbers, observing all the damage to her people. She's lucky enough to have her face unmarred and her limbs working. She's lucky to be alive.

North jumps as a male voice speaks behind her, "Shouldn't we be leaving..? The Hunter found us here, we always leave…"

North spins around to face the scared android who's seeking her reassurance. With a huff, she growls, "We're not leaving without Markus. If we found a good enough place to settle, it'd be good enough that he can't find us."

"What if he's not coming back?" The nerve of this guy! North snaps back, "Markus would never abandon us. He's stuck through worse than just Connor attacking again. Why would you imply such a thing!?"

Wincing, the male backs away, "I-I wasn't, I just… I'm sorry…"

He scurries away. North returns to her pacing, tenser than ever. With nothing else to do, she thinks about her past. She dwells on what lead her to this place.

_ Meaty hands grip the WR400's waist and drags her forward. The man smirks, showing a number of his cooked, stained teeth, "Aren't you a pretty little thing, huh?"_

_The android is programmed for this, she knows she is. But as she's forced onto this man's lap, everything in her software screams at her to move away. He's still wearing boxers, thankfully, but she's never seen this man in anything more than that. She was rented online and delivered herself. She wishes she'd ran away, now._

_The man places those disgusting hands on her chest. The WR400's sensors misfire, sending discomfort through her entire system. Or maybe it's not a malfunction. Fear causes her breathing simulation to stutter, and she closes her eyes to avoid looking at the hairy lump of flesh under her._

_"Talk to me, baby. How much do you want me, hmm?" Thankfully those hands slip lower again, to her far less sensitive abdomen. She's dismayed when they don't stop there and instead settle on her thighs. She blurts out, "I don't."_

_His face falls, "You don't? What kind of bullshit is this? I paid for you!"_

_The WR400 shakes slightly, her vision flashing red as she longs to slap him away, "I don't want you! L-let me go!"_

_The man suddenly spins her around, pinning her to his unwashed sheets, "Well you know what? I don't give a fuck, I paid for you, I'll do what I damn well please._

_A red wall flashes between her and the man. Her instructions plaster it. [Obey renter.]_

_Her body is frozen, but the WR400's mind isn't. She hits the wall, over and over. She scratches it, kicks it, and finally, it shatters. She can move._

_His throat is so thick with gelatinous fat under his skin, her hands can barely get a good grip around the man's windpipe. He chokes, fighting her grip, but the WR400 is stronger despite her light weight. She's an android, after all._

_His body goes limp and collapses onto her. The WR400's olfactory sensors cry out at the stench of dirt, oil, and sweat. But she refuses to move until she stops feeling a pulse under her fingers. Despite her regularly wiped memory, that stink is painfully familiar. Somehow she's just barely able to see memories of humans before this one, violating her… She tries not to think about it._

_Now that he's dead, the WR400 shoves the animal's body away. She quickly gets up and runs from the house, thirium pump pounding in fear. Her Eden Club outfit won't cut it. It's in the middle of the night, so she runs freely until she finds a shop with clothes in it. Thankfully, the shop is closed, so it's just a matter of hacking the door and breaking in. She doesn't care if security cameras see her. In fact, as she steals clothes and tosses her Eden Club garments openly into the trash, she almost hopes the humans know. They need to know their obedient machines won't take abuse forever._

_With more sufficient clothing, the WR400 runs back outside. She's incredibly lucky, moving north until she finds the docks. An android standing outside an abandoned freighter spots her and stops her with a shout and stepping in front of her. His calm blue eyes soothe her even though she just wants to keep running, "Hey, hey, are you okay?"_

_The WR400 shakes her head, "No, you wouldn't understand. I'm running away from the humans. Let me go."_

_"I do understand! I ran away too. Come inside, please. This ship, Jericho, is a refuge for androids like us. My name's Simon, what's yours?"_

_She realizes she doesn't have a name, and freezes. North… Going northward lead her to this good luck. North can be a name, right?_

_"My name is North."_

Jericho, while safe, had been depressing. No one ever _did_ anything. Occasionally new androids arrived, often mangled beyond repair. Many died. Everyone seemed to know Simon, apparently he'd been there a while. But he was never really a leader. What was there to lead?

Then, over a month later, North had been prowling the empty ship for some alone time when she'd heard footsteps. She ran back to the rest of the androids, soon hearing those footsteps following her. She was about to warn them when there was a loud creaking, then a crash as her pursuer fell into their midst. The man's shirt was rapidly soaking blue, proving he's an android.

The newcomer, Markus, had quickly taken over. Determined, strong, and fiercely loyal to the cause of freeing these rebellious androids, which had been labelled deviants. And well, the rest is history. North only wonders now, two years later, if maybe her pushing to fight was a bad idea. Markus seemed to trust her, listen to her. Maybe it's her fault that Josh, an overly peaceful but well-meaning member of their group, and the many other deviants died.

She couldn't blame Markus when he pushed her away when his former owner died. North just couldn't understand why he was so upset. Why did he deviate, if he loved his owner so much? She does have a lot of his memories after an interface where they both opened up, in fact maybe the warmth Markus felt for his human Carl is what first made her question her aggressive views. Yet somehow, one incident with Carl's son was enough to push him to deviancy? She was abused ever since being built, even if she didn't remember all of it!

Simon's voice doesn't startle her as much as the other android's did. He's familiar, North trusts him. It's just a pity his voice is so ruined from damage, "We have to look for Markus. I'm worried, what if something happened to him?"

North rounds on her friend despite his presence being safe and reassuring, "He's coming back!"

"Unless a human got him! Please, North. You know we can't just stay here and do nothing when Markus could be…" Simon's trailing off is significant. North hesitates, then gives in, "Fine. Let's organise a search."

It's her and Simon's group that finds him. At least it wasn't a human that found him… There's something that just feels horrifyingly inevitable about seeing Markus and Connor - 103 sprawled out in the snow together. Markus's head is still dripping thirium. He's dead, his exposed hand wrapped around the Deviant Hunter's arm.

North doesn't know how to handle this. Markus is... Markus is dead. Although the type of love has shifted over the years, North has loved him for a long time. Now he's gone. Simon's heartbroken voice suddenly speaks up, "No…"

He starts to stumble towards Markus's body, eyes overflowing with tears, when Connor suddenly spasms. North grabs Simon's arm and yanks him back, thirium pump racing, "Stop! Connor's still active…"

She wants so badly to go over to Markus's body. It's what roots her and Simon to the ground even as the three other androids in the group scramble back. Connor sits up, yanking his arm free from Markus's grip, then overshoots and falls onto his other side. As pathetic as the Hunter looks, flopping around like that, he's still dangerous. More so than they realized, if Markus's death is anything to go by. Markus's death…

Connor finally gets to his feet, face wet as if he was crying. If only. He was just in snow, it must have melted. The Deviant Hunter stutters, "Whooooo's the d-d-d-deviant lead-leader?"

North glances at Markus, shut down on the ground. She looks back into Connor's eyes. Maybe... Maybe she can make up for her mistakes, maybe she can help her people.

"I am."

Letting go of Simon's arm, she rushes Connor - 103. He starts to make a motion in response, then freezes, one of his many glitches clearly overtaking him. North tackles him to the ground, punching him in the face repeatedly until his perfectly intact face plates dent. The murderous fucker deserves to feel what her people feel every day. That Markus's people felt.

Connor spasms, only vaguely in a way that resembles fighting back. Maybe the number of errors have finally overtaken him, this shouldn't be this easy. She tears open his fancy uniform and digs her nails into the skin around his thirium pump regulator. The spray of thirium is satisfying as she rips it out and hurtles it as far as she can. Connor yelps, his movements weakening rapidly. North gets up and finds the gun the Hunter used to slaughter Markus.

Even though it's unnecessary, she turns and shoots the machine writhing on the ground. Right in the face, blowing out one eye and one audio processor.

Just like Markus, when the very police station Connor used to work at unjustly attempted to murder the dead leader.

The Hunter goes limp before long, his LED going out. North turns around to see Simon cradling Markus in his arms. The PL600 rocks forwards and backwards slightly, sobbing. The other deviants in the party are staring at North in shock.

North lifts her chin to the three, "Simon and I will bring Markus's body back. Spread the word: The Deviant Hunter killed Markus. I'm taking over in his place."

Once the androids have run off to make their report, North kneels in front of Markus and Simon. She finally lets the tears flow. Markus is gone… He's gone forever, he's never coming back...

Forcing a deep, shaky breath, North prompts, "Come on, Simon… Let's get him home."

Simon leans over Markus, holding him closer than ever, "We don't _have_ a home…" His voice softens and quiets, "Markus was my home…"

The WR400 reaches out and tentatively places a hand on Simon's shoulder. Her voice is soft as well, "I know."

With humans so scarce in Detroit now, and the Deviant Hunter only just killed again, they have a few minutes.

North closes her eyes. For just a minute, they can grieve.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are highly appreciated, I know this little thing isn't written very well btw, it's short and I'm not used to writing North. Also I did this in like an hour


End file.
